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January 10, 2015

Je Suis Charlie; Je Suis Juif

Yesterday, I started a post that began: "We are all Charlie, not just in solidarity and sadness, but because we are targets -- even if we pretend, just to get through the day, that we're not. And nothing we do is making us targets -- not what we draw or write or say or even what we believe. We are targeted by Islamic terrorists because of who we are: non-Islamists. And when the next Islamic terrorist attack occurs, we need to stand with those innocent victims of terror, too."

Then I hurried in the rain to the train station in Tel Aviv ahead of the last trains that run on Fridays, while in Paris the next terror attack was already underway.

Today we know that four Jews shopping in a Kosher market (their names are still not published) were murdered before the police were able to stop the killers. We know that another 30 people saved themselves by huddling together in a freezer for hours during the attack. We know that French government leaders are in emergency meetings.

But we have known and the French officials have known that the Jews of France have been under siege for years. We knew that the offices of Charlie Hebdo had been fire-bombed in 2011. We knew about the twin towers bombing in 1993.

Last night the Grand Synagogue of Paris was closed on shabbat because the police did not believe they could provide protection from terror. The last time the Grand Synagogue was closed was during World War II.